36. He put a three-day trip between himself and Jacob, while Jacob was watching the rest of Laban’s flock.
37. Then Jacob took new branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees; and he peeled white stripes on them, exposing the branches’ white color.
38. He set the branches that he had peeled near the watering troughs so that they were in front of the flock when they drank, because they often mated when they came to drink.
39. When the flock mated in front of the branches, they gave birth to striped, speckled, and spotted young.
40. Jacob sorted out the lambs, turning the flock to face the striped and black ones in Laban’s flock but keeping his flock separate, setting them apart from Laban’s flock.
41. Whenever the strongest of the flock mated, Jacob put the branches in front of them near the watering troughs so that they mated near the branches.
42. But he didn’t put branches up for the weakest of the flock. So the weakest became Laban’s and the strongest Jacob’s.
43. The man Jacob became very, very rich: he owned large flocks, female and male servants, camels, and donkeys.